Conveyors are commonly used to transport material from one location to another. There are various types, sizes and uses of conveyors and they are commonly used in industries where heavy material requires transporting. Certain commonly used conveyors employ a roller and belt mechanism in which material is transported along a moving belt, which is supported and driven by means of a roller system. The rollers of belt conveyors frequently require removal from the conveyor system to enable repair, replacement and maintenance. It is therefore necessary to be able to remove the roller from the conveyor system. However, access to the rollers of a belt conveyor may be difficult, either because of the environment in which the conveyor is used or the orientation of the conveyor. For example, belt conveyors often have steep inclines and are raised high off the ground or other substrate. Thus, the removal of a roller from the conveyor roller support system is not always an easy task. Generally, the removal of the roller from the conveyor system requires more than one person to perform the task, owing to the size and weight of the roller. The rollers are commonly removed by manually lifting the roller out of the support structure from below, during which process, the roller must be supported either manually or by using some form of jack or cradle. In addition, the belt must be supported to facilitate removal of the roller and while the roller is being replaced.
It would therefore be an advantage to provide a mechanism that would facilitate the removal of a roller from a belt conveyor and it would be advantageous if this could be done by a single person with little or no risk of injury.
Another difficulty in removing a roller from a conveyor arrangement is that many large conveyors are only accessible from one side of the conveyor. Conveyors generally include a walkway on one side of the conveyor. The opposite side of the conveyor often has the drive train for the conveyor and this side is generally not readily accessible to persons. Accordingly it would be an advantage to provide a mechanism or system that would enable a roller of the conveyor to be removed from one side of the conveyor system. It will be appreciated that it would be an advantage to be able to remove the roller from the walkway side of the conveyor system.
The present invention is directed to so-called “return rollers” or “idler rollers, which are not driven and generally support the return portion of a continuous belt loop that is located below the material-carrying portion of the belt loop. The rollers supporting the material-carrying portion of the belt loop may be driven rollers or idler rollers.